I am writing this for
no reason. It's pointless really…Shadow might be out of character
(OCC) but most new fathers are.

Disclaimer: I own many
things: two hermit crabs, the game SA2B, a million pair of jeans, and
the bruise on my arm. One thing I will never own is SEGA and all of
its wonderful characters. (Mainly the Sonic Team's characters)

Defenseless Barriers

He sat in the waiting
room failing to do anything but wait. He was slightly rocking himself
and squeezing is right arm until the blood flow stopped. The hedgehog
had a feeling that he never felt before, and he didn't like it.

Shadow the Hedgehog was
nervous. He had been involved once in a childbirth. Once upon A.R.K.,
a lady was about to be sent to Earth for her child was due, and she
needed to be in a hospital. The only problem was if your 9 months
pregnant, you're not allowed to be transported. So…the baby was
delivered on A.R.K. He wasn't involved, but Maria was there and he
was her shadow. He wasn't completely new to the subject, but he
wasn't an expert for that matter.

Still, the black
hedgehog had never been involved with his child.

He stood up and paced
around the room vigorously, trying to maintain his patience, but he
was slowly losing the battle every second. A glass-shattering cry
echoed from the delivery room that painfully called his name. It was
Amy.

He rushed quickly to
the door just to be stopped…again by a white hedgehog. "Please go
sit down sir," the female nurse said firmly, but in her gentle soft
voice. "Please let the doctor finish."-She smiled-" I assure
you, your wife is in good hands."

"But she just called
me," Shadow said, trying to keep his tone and mood down.

"Please understand
and calm down. New fathers can be somewhat panicky with their first
child. That's way it's best for you to stay out here and remain
seated."

The ebony hedgehog
snatched his hand from her grasp and reluctantly sat down against his
own will. 'Panicked?' he thought. 'I'm not
panicked. I-will-not-panic!' He stood up the instant he heard
another scream. He started pacing around the room again and stopped
when the yelling also stopped; a wailing noise now replaced her
screams.

The nurse guarding the
door stepped in the room. Shadow leaned against the nearest wall and
closed his eyes. He was unaware that he started taking deep breaths
to remain calm. He might not have been panicked then but now, he was.
In. Out. In. Out. As much as he tried to control his breathing,
nothing was working right now.

The doors flung open,
which made Shadow, snap his eyes open, and out came the nurse
carrying a wiggling white bundle. "Congrats sir! You have a new
baby daughter!" she said on her approach to him.

The ebony hedgehog
ignored the nurse's statement along with the baby. "How is Amy?"

"She'll be fine.
Right now, her rest is needed." The nurse shifted the weight of the
newborn to the other side of her body. "Would you like to see your
child now?"

The ivory hedgehog
turned the child, so it was facing him. She was a beautiful sight.
Her fur was a dark magenta with soft melon colors at the tip of her
three spines. Her eye color was unknown for her eyes were squeezed
shut. The baby had one black, stray bang of fur that hung in between
its eyes. You couldn't see anything else for the child was wrapped
you real tight in the blanket.

Shadow's heart
stopped abruptly. Her words were slowly sinking in. His child.
Father. The creation that Amy and him brought into the world.
A symbol of their love.

"Would you like to
hold her; she's really energetic," she asked, bringing him back
from his thoughts.

He stared down at the
child again, frowning doubtfully. "What if I drop her?"

The nurse smiled
reassuringly. "You won't. All new fathers have that fear at
first. Just make sure you hold her head with your free hand."

'I don't want to
hold the baby.' He kept think over and over again, yet the
nurse didn't notice. She lifted the child up and placed it in his
arms, slowly letting go. The child wiggled some more as the
transition was being made.

"She looks so much
like her mother," the nurse said finally releasing the small child.

"Yes, she does."

The black hedgehog
shifted the child in one hand, and gingerly rubbed its cheek. The
newborn slowly cracked her eyes open and somehow managed to release
one of her chubby arms from under the wraps.

The nurse smiled
lightly and added a small giggle. "My, she's strong and look, she
has your burning red eyes!"

The baby grabbed his
finger, her tiny hand not big enough to wrap around his whole finger
and held on to it tight before yawning and finally going to sleep.

"Have you named her?"

"No, not yet."

"I'll leave you
alone, so you two can bond right now. You can also go see your wife
when you want." The white hedgehog walked out of room to the next
patient.

Shadow slowly leaned
against a wall careful not wake the sleeping baby up. He blinked back
tears determined not to let one fall. Although it's might hard,
when a child is tearing down all of you defensive barriers. He gently
rocked her back and forth as he cradled her.

The blue blur sped in
about fifteen minutes later, known as no other than Sonic the
hedgehog. "Hey Shad, I was coming earlier but there was this sale
on some video games, and I had to just buy some. Then I had to save a
cat from a tree-"

"Shut it faker!"
Shadow whispered, but the tone was still very harsh.

Sonic stopped
immediately with that conversation. "So, is that the baby?" Sonic
peered over at it and contorted is face in disgust. "Man, are all
newborns ugly or what?"

The ebony hedgehog
growled fiercely at the cobalt hedgehog. "Faker, you got one more
time to call my child ugly, or I'll make sure you know what ugly is
every time you look in the mirror!"

Sonic just laughed at
the comment. "But seriously, I think she is beautiful. I'm happy
for you guys." Sonic looked down at his watch. "Look at the time,
I gotta go. See ya man."

Shadow rolled his eyes
and muttered, "Idiot."

About an hour later,
Shadow walked in to see Amy. She's resting on the bed, watching TV.
The hedgehog looked up at him and smiled. "She's so strong,"
The rose hedgehog whispered, reaching out her hand for his, "just
like her father."

Shadow grabbed her hand
and half smiled at his new daughter resting peacefully. She truly was
strong because she made the barriers he put up, totally defenseless.

The End

R&R if you decided
to read.

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